A technologically inept criminal sent a ‘selfie’ to the owner of the stolen iPad he bought for just £40.
Software on the device led police to the home of Alexander Atkinson, where they also discovered a quantity of heroin.
At Perth Sheriff Court, Sheriff William Wood jailed Atkinson for a total of 10 months.
The court heard Atkinson bought the £300 device from a “known thief” and intended to give it to a relative.
The tablet was taken during a housebreaking at a property on Bute Drive.
When the 36-year-old activated the tablet computer, it sent location coordinates and a photograph of Atkinson to the phone of the owner, which were then passed to police.
Location software narrowed down the area where the iPad was to a specific batch of houses and police recognised Atkinson from the snap so they obtained a warrant to search his home for stolen goods.
Atkinson, a prisoner at HMP Perth, admitted resetting the iPad mini on September 2 last year and to possessing diamorphine on October 4 at his home on Stanley Crescent, Perth.
Solicitor David Holmes, defending, said Atkinson “had not appreciated the level of technology involved” but that he had cooperated with police to return the stolen iPad.
He added Atkinson bought the iPad from John Jeffries.
Last week Jeffries, 43, was jailed by Sheriff Wood for eight months after admitting taking two of the Apple devices from a neighbour’s home on Bute Drive.